No place like home
by goolcaptain
Summary: Buffy has been killed. The forces of darkness have won. But where do Slayers go when they die? Not where you might think....if Normal Again upset you then this fic is for you


Summary; Where do Slayers go when they die? We kill Buffy a lot in fic but I don't believe in unhappy endings. I can always write a happy sequal to ANYTHING  
Spoilers; last ever ep season 7  
Rating; pg  
Disclaimer; these characters belong to Mutant Enemy Productions and not me, this fic has no profit motive whatsoever  
Distribution; do what you like  
A much more adult version of this can be found under my name at adult fan fiction .net

No Place Like Home

It was over. She was dead it was finally over. Buffy had done her duty, paid her price. She was the Slayer to the last.

"Buffy?"  
Of course mom was there. It wouldn't be heaven without her.  
"Buffy?"  
Dad. Had he been killed already? It didn't matter. They were all together now.  
"Keep talking to her, I think she's with us again"  
The doctor.

Buffy opened her eyes and looked around the asylum walls. Bright and whitewashed. Her mother and father loomed over her, their faces hopeful but worried.  
"Buffy, don't leave us again, please" Joyce begged.  
She sat up on the bed and took them in her arms. "Don't you leave ME!"

It took a month for her to truly accept it. A month of checking every atlas she could find to make sure there was no town called Sunnydale. There was no Rupert Giles, no Willow Rosenberg, no Alexander Harris in any phone book. Of going through every martial arts book she could find to discover none of the techniques she knew were real. Of trying every spell she knew and achieving nothing but making the room smell of incense. Of having dad help her rearrange her bedroom because she wasn't strong enough to move her furniture by herself. Of exploring the school gym to find it intact, of talking to Jennifer and Kimberly and Cassandra with their jobs and their college degrees and their children.  
She looked in the mirror. She looked older, different. She had lost so much time. But now her life had been handed back to her. It was a precious gift she had no intention of wasting.  
She took the silver cross from around her neck and placed it in her drawer. She had no need for it except as religious jewellery.  
Because there were no vampires.  
So you didn't need a Slayer.  
She'd loved them all. They'd meant everything to her. But now she was letting them go. She knew they'd understand. This was what they would have wanted.  
She was plain old Buffy Summers once again. And she was contented to be so.  
She went downstairs. Dad was in the kitchen manfully burning dinner, Joyce sat on the couch, reading. Buffy crept up to her and hugged her arms around her neck in a loving embrace. Joyce smiled and took her hand, guiding it down to her swollen abdomen.  
"It's kicking" Buffy observed. It was so strange to think of her mother being pregnant after all this time, that soon she would be someone else's mom and not just hers.  
"Yes, she's probably going to be cheerleader, just like her sister" Joyce replied  
Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Can we call her Dawn?"  
Joyce was quiet for a moment.

"Who fancies pizza?" her father asked, putting his jacket on as he walked out the door to the Jaguar.  
"Yes please dad" Buffy responded "Ham and tomato"

Hank paused in the doorway a moment, watching his beloved daughter and wife share their moment of intimacy. He still came to Buffy's bedroom door some nights, just to check on her whilst she slept. Sometimes he caught Joyce doing the same. Sometimes Buffy did the same to them.  
Joyce waited until she heard the car pulling away until she spoke.

"That was the name of your sister in your delusion wasn't it Buffy? Are you sure? Would that be good for you? It might be more healthy if..."  
"Please" Buffy implored. "Let me take one good thing with me from all that time!"  
The baby kicked again.

"I think she likes it" observed Joyce. She looked at Buffy, her daughter's expression one of plaintive yearning. Joyce's face filled with warmth. In the end her decision was a simple one.  
"Ok. Dawn it is" she reached out and stroked Buffy's hair with her hand. In a few months she would give birth to a perfect little girl, a wonderful little girl who would bring them all joy and happiness. A beautiful little girl with blue eyes and red hair.  
Buffy smiled. Life was ordinary. And wonderful.


End file.
